Image processing apparatus having report printing function, method of controlling image processing apparatus, and storage medium

ABSTRACT

An image processing apparatus that is capable of performing report printing in a language desired by a user in either manual report printing or autonomic report printing. A storage unit stores information on the image processing apparatus. A touch panel receives input from a log-in user A control unit controls execution of the automatic report printing in which the information is printed by the printing unit as a report when predetermined conditions are satisfied, and execution of the manual report printing in which the information is printed by the printing unit as a report based on an instruction from the log-in user. The control unit performs the automatic report printing in a predetermined language and performs the manual report printing in a language for the log-in user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus having areport printing function of printing setting information, historyinformation, and so forth on the image processing apparatus, a method ofcontrolling the image processing apparatus, and a storage medium.

2. Description of the Related Art

There are known image processing apparatuses having a report printingfunction of printing setting information, history information, and soforth on the image processing apparatuses on sheets or the like. Thisreport printing function offers manual report printing in which reportprinting is performed in accordance with a user's instruction andautomatic report printing in which report printing is performed whenconditions set for an image processing apparatus are satisfied. A report(output matter) output by manual report printing is used mainly by auser who has issued an instruction to perform printing. On the otherhand, a report output by automatic report printing is used mainly for anadministrator of the image processing apparatus to, for example, managethe condition of the image processing apparatus and check the status ofuse.

As image processing apparatuses, those equipped with a personalizingfunction of optimizing functions according to users are known. In theseimage processing apparatuses, for example, languages to be displayed ona screen of an operation unit are changeable by users (see JapaneseLaid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2013-7958).

However, a report output using the report printing function is usuallyprinted in a language set in advance for an image processing apparatus.For this reason, when a user performs manual report printing, a languagedisplayed on the screen of the operation unit using the personalizingfunction of the image processing apparatus and a language set in advancefor the report printing function may differ from each other. In thiscase, a report may be created in a language that is not understandableor desired by the user who has performed manual report printing.

Possible methods of coping with this problem include a method that setsa language for use in report printing so that it can match a languagedisplayed on the screen of the operation unit. In this case, however, ifa language that is not understandable or desired by an administrator isset for the screen of the operation unit when automatic report printingis to be performed, a report is created in the language that is notunderstandable or desired by the administrator, and this isinconvenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an image processing apparatus that iscapable of performing report printing in a language desired by a user ineither manual report printing or autonomic report printing, a method ofcontrolling the image processing apparatus, and a storage medium.

Accordingly, a first aspect of the present invention provides an imageprocessing apparatus comprising a printing unit, a storage unitconfigured to store information on the image processing apparatus, atouch panel configured to receive input from a log-in user, and acontrol unit configured to control execution of automatic reportprinting in which the information is printed by the printing unit as areport when predetermined conditions are satisfied, and execution ofmanual report printing in which the information is printed by theprinting unit as a report based on an instruction from the log-in user,wherein the control unit performs the automatic report printing in apredetermined language and performs the manual report printing in alanguage for the log-in user.

Accordingly, a second aspect of the present invention provides an imageprocessing apparatus having a printing unit, comprising a storage unitconfigured to store setting information and history information on theimage processing apparatus, a touch panel configured to receive inputfrom a user and display information for the user, a management unitconfigured to, when the setting information or the history informationis printed as a report, manage whether the report is an automatic reportto be printed when predetermined conditions stored in the storage unitare satisfied or a result report to be printed when a predetermine jobis executed, a determination unit configured to determine whether thereport is to be printed by automatic report printing or manual reportprinting performed based on an instruction from the user, and a controlunit configured to control execution of the automatic report printingand the manual report printing in accordance with the result of thedetermination made by the determination unit, wherein the storage unitadditionally stores a language used by an administrator of the imageprocessing apparatus and a display language for the touch panel, and thecontrol unit performs the manual report printing in the display languageand performs the automatic report printing in the display language whena report to be printed is the result report and performs the automaticreport printing in the language used by the administrator when a reportto be printed is not the result report.

Accordingly, a third aspect of the present invention provides a controlmethod for an image processing apparatus having a printing unit, astorage unit, and a touch panel that receives input from a log-in user,comprising a storage step of storing, in the storage unit, informationon the image processing apparatus, an automatic report printing step ofprinting the information by the printing unit as a report whenpredetermined conditions are satisfied, and a manual report printingstep of printing the information by the printing unit as a report basedon an instruction from the log-in user, wherein the automatic reportprinting is performed in a predetermined language, and the manual reportprinting is performed in a language for the log-in user.

Accordingly, a fourth aspect of the present invention provides a controlmethod for an image processing apparatus having a printing unit, astorage unit, and a touch panel that receives input from a user anddisplays information for the user, comprising a setting step of settinga language used by an administrator of the image processing apparatusand setting a display language for the touch panel in association withthe user, a storage step of storing setting information and historyinformation on the image processing apparatus, a management step of,when the setting information or the history information is printed as areport, managing whether the report is an automatic report to be printedwhen predetermined conditions stored in the storage unit are satisfiedor a result report to be printed when a predetermine job is executed, adetermination step of determining whether the report is to be printed byautomatic report printing or manual report printing performed based onan instruction from the user, and a control step of controllingexecution of the automatic report printing and the manual reportprinting in accordance with the result of the determination made in thedetermination step, wherein in the control step, the manual reportprinting is performed in the display language, and the automatic reportprinting is performed in the display language when a report to beprinted is the result report, and performed in the language used by theadministrator when a report to be printed is not the result report.

Accordingly, a fifth aspect of the present invention provides anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program forcausing a computer of an image processing apparatus to execute a controlmethod for an image processing apparatus having a printing unit, astorage unit, and a touch panel that receives input from a log-in user,the control method comprising a storage step of storing, in the storageunit, information on the image processing apparatus, an automatic reportprinting step of printing the information by the printing unit as areport when predetermined conditions are satisfied, and a manual reportprinting step of printing the information by the printing unit as areport based on an instruction from the log-in user, wherein theautomatic report printing is performed in a predetermined language, andthe manual report printing is performed in a language for the log-inuser.

Accordingly, a sixth aspect of the present invention provides anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program forcausing a computer of an image processing apparatus to execute a controlmethod for an image processing apparatus having a printing unit, astorage unit, and a touch panel that receives input from a user anddisplays information for the user, the control method comprising asetting step of setting a language used by an administrator of the imageprocessing apparatus and setting a display language for the touch panelin association with the user, a storage step of storing settinginformation and history information on the image processing apparatus, amanagement step of, when the setting information or the historyinformation is printed as a report, managing whether the report is anautomatic report to be printed when predetermined conditions stored inthe storage unit are satisfied or a result report to be printed when apredetermine job is executed, a determination step of determiningwhether the report is to be printed by automatic report printing ormanual report printing performed based on an instruction from the user,and a control step of controlling execution of the automatic reportprinting and the manual report printing in accordance with the result ofthe determination made in the determination step, wherein in the controlstep, the manual report printing is performed in the display language,and the automatic report printing is performed in the display languagewhen a report to be printed is the result report, and performed in thelanguage used by the administrator when a report to be printed is notthe result report.

According to the present invention, when manual report printing orautonomic report printing is to be performed, whether a language for usein printing is a language to be used by the administrator or a displaylanguage to be used for display on the touch panel when the user usesthe touch panel is determined according to information on a report. As aresult, printing is performed in a language desired by the user inmanual report printing or autonomic report printing.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to theattached drawings).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an overall arrangement of animage processing system according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a hardware arrangementof an MFP constituting the image processing system in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an exemplary operation screen displayed on atouch panel which an operation unit of the MFP in FIG. 2 has.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an exemplary display language management tablein the MFP in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5A is a view showing an exemplary operation screen displayed on thetouch panel of the operation unit when manual report printing is to beperformed by the MFP in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5B is a view showing anexemplary count report output by the manual report printing.

FIG. 6A is a view showing an exemplary operation screen displayed on thetouch panel of the operation unit when settings on automatic printing ofa communication management report, which is automatic report printing,are to be configured by the MFP in FIG. 2, and FIG. 6B is a view showingan exemplary communication management report.

FIG. 7A is a view showing an exemplary operation screen displayed on thetouch panel of the operation unit when settings on printing of atransmission result report, which is automatic report printing, are tobe configured by the MFP in FIG. 2, and FIGS. 7B and 7 c are viewsshowing exemplary transmission result reports.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a report management table in the MFP in FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a process in which a language to be displayedon the touch panel which an operation unit of the MFP in FIG. 2 has isdetermined with respect to each user.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a report printing process carried out by theMFP in FIG. 2 according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a view showing an exemplary operation screen displayed on thetouch panel of the operation unit when the user explicitly makes asetting that performs a transmission result report using the MFP in FIG.2.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are flowcharts of a report printing process carriedout by the MFP in FIG. 2 according to a second embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference tothe drawings showing an embodiment thereof.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an overall arrangement of animage processing system according to embodiments of the presentinvention. This image processing system is comprised of amultifunctional peripheral (hereafter referred to as “the MFP”) 101 anda file server 102, which are connected to each other so that they cancommunicate with each other. The MFP 101 is connected to a publictelephone line network 110.

It should be noted that the MFP 101 is an exemplary image processingapparatus, and the file server 102 is an exemplary file managementapparatus. The LAN 100 may be either a wired LAN or a wireless LAN.Other apparatuses such as a client computer (hereafter referred to as“the client PC”), not shown, which instructs the MFP 101 to performprinting or the like are also connected to the LAN 100.

The MFP 101 is capable of sending image data (sending image files) todestinations, which are folders in the file server 102, using SMB(Server Message Block) or FTP (File Transfer Protocol). It should benoted that folders not only in the file server 102 but also in theclient PC, not shown, mentioned above may be destinations. The MFP 101is also capable of sending image data by electronic mail (by mail) via amail server, not shown. The MFP 101 is able to carry out communicationswith (sending and receiving image data to and from) a facsimile, notshown, because it is connected to the public telephone line network 110.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a hardware arrangementof the MFP 101. The MFP 101 has a control unit 210, an operation unit220, a printer unit 221, a scanner unit 222, and a modem unit 223. Thecontrol unit 210 has a CPU 211, a ROM 212, a RAM 213, an HDD 214, anoperation unit I/F 215, a printer I/F 216, a scanner I/F 217, a modemI/F 218, and a network I/F 219.

The control unit 210 controls the overall operation of the MFP 101. TheCPU 211 reads control programs stored in the ROM 212, expands them in awork area of the RAM 213 to provide various types of control such asprinting control, reading control, and transmission control. The RAM 213is used as a temporary storage area such as main memory and a work areafor the CPU 211. The HDD 214 stores image data, various programs, andvarious setting information, history information, and result informationon the MFP 101.

It should be noted that concrete examples of the setting information onthe MFP 101 include information on settings on languages to be displayedon a touch panel (to be described later), which are allowed to be setfor each user, and information on languages for use in performingautomatic report printing. Also, concrete example of the historyinformation on the MFP 101 include information on histories of facsimiletransmission and reception, and information on results of predeterminedjobs such as file transmission, mail transmission, and printing.

The operation unit I/F 215 connects the operation unit 220 and the CPU211 to each other. The operation unit 220 is comprised of, for example,the touch panel, which is a liquid crystal display having a touch panelfunction, and a keyboard (hardware buttons). The printer I/F 216connects the printer unit 221 and the CPU 211 to each other. Image datato be printed by the printer unit 221 is transferred from the controlunit 210 to the printer unit 221 via the printer I/F 216 and printed ona recording medium such as a sheet by the printer unit 221.

The scanner I/F 217 connects the scanner unit 222 and the CPU 211 toeach other. The scanner unit 222 reads an image off an original togenerate image data and inputs it to the control unit 210 via thescanner I/F 217. The MFP 101 is able to send the image data generated bythe scanner unit 222.

The modem I/F 218 connects the modem 223 and the CPU 211 to each other.The modem 223 connects the control unit 210 to the public telephone linenetwork 110. The modem 223 sends and receives image data to and from thefacsimile, not shown, on the public telephone line network 110. Thenetwork I/F 219 connects the control unit 210 to the LAN 100. Thenetwork I/F 219 sends image data and information to the file server 102,the client PC, and so on, which are external apparatuses on the LAN 100,and on the other hand, receives various types of information from theexternal apparatuses on the LAN 100.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an exemplary operation screen displayed on thetouch panel which the operation unit 220 has. The operation screen 300in FIG. 3 is displayed on the touch panel by a system administrator ofthe MFP 101 logging into the MFP 101 and operating the operation screen220 based on his or her own right when registering a display languagewhich he or she uses (hereafter referred to as “the administrator'sdisplay language”).

It should be noted that before the administrator's display language isset, the operation screen 300 in FIG. 3 is displayed on the touch panel,which the operation unit 220 has, in a default display language set inadvance for the MFP 101 irrespective of who logs into the MFP 101. Thedefault display language is also used in a case where a personalizingfunction of displaying different languages on the touch panel accordingto users is off, a case where a user who logs in has registered nodisplay language for him or her, a case where a guest user has loggedinto the apparatus, and so on as will be described alter.

A language information field 301 in which a plurality of languages islisted is displayed on the operation screen 300, and languages displayedin the language information field 301 are display languages that can beset. The system administrator is allowed to select a desired language asthe administrator's display language (apparatus language) from thelanguages displayed in the language information field 301. The systemadministrator touches a desired language among languages displayed inthe language information field 301 and depresses an OK button. Thiscompletes setting of the administrator's display language, and settinginformation on the administrator's display language thus set is storedin the HDD 214. When the system administrator logs into the MFP 101after the administrator's display language is set, various types ofinformation are displayed on the touch panel in the set administrator'sdisplay language.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an exemplary display language management tablein the MFP 101. The display language management table 400 in FIG. 4 iscomprised of combinations of user names 401 and display languages 402and stored in the HDD 214. The user names 401 are user informationmanaged in the display language management table 400, and they are, forexample, last names, full names, or nicknames of users or ID numbers ofusers. The display languages 402 are display language informationassociated with users identified by the user names 401.

For example, when a user A uses the MFP 101, Japanese is displayed onthe touch panel, and when a user B uses the MFP 101, English isdisplayed on the touch panel. This will be described later in detailwith reference to a flowchart of FIG. 9.

FIG. 5A is a view showing an exemplary operation screen displayed on thetouch panel of the operation unit 220 when manual report printing is tobe performed. In manual report printing, a count obtained by countingthe number of sheets printed by the MFP 101 is printed. The presentinvention, however, is not limited to this, but other reports (forexample, a communication management report and a transmission resultreport, to be described later) may be manually output.

Information 501 printed on a report to be output and a report printbutton 502 for use in instructing execution of report printing aredisplayed on the touch panel. The information 501, here, is comprised ofinformation on processes such as copying (monochrome) and printing(monochrome) and the number of sheets processed in the processes, butthe information 501 is not limited to them but may include otherinformation. By seeing the information 501 and depressing (touching) thereport print button 502, a user issues an instruction to perform manualreport printing. FIG. 5B shows an exemplary count report which is anoutput matter obtained by the user depressing the report print button502.

FIG. 6A is a view showing an exemplary operation screen displayed on thetouch panel of the operation unit 220 when settings on automaticprinting of a communication management report, which is automatic reportprinting, are to be configured. The control unit 210 of the MFP 101manages communication histories with external apparatuses (the fileserver 102, the client PC, the facsimile, and so on), and thecommunication histories are stored in the HDD 214. The CPU 211increments the total number of communication histories whenevercommunication histories are updated, and when the count reaches 100, theCPU 211 performs automatic report printing and resets the count to zero.

“Automatic printing after 100 communications” displayed in FIG. 6Aindicates a condition as to the timing with which a communicationmanagement report for use in managing communication histories is toautomatically output. When the total number of communication historiessatisfies this condition (100 communications), automatic report printingis performed. A switch 601 for selectively executing (turning on andoff) automatic report printing is displayed on the touch panel. When theswitch 601 is ON, a communication management report on whichcommunication histories managed by the MFP 101 are printed isautomatically output when the number of communication histories reaches100. FIG. 6B shows an exemplary communication management report.

FIG. 7A is a view showing an exemplary operation screen displayed on thetouch panel of the operation unit 220 when settings on printing of atransmission result report, which is automatic report printing, are tobe configured. An only-error-time button 701 is a switch for making asetting that performs automatic report printing when a transmissionerror occurs. Thus, when the only-error-time button 701 is selected, atransmission result report showing a result of transmission of imagedata to an external apparatus is automatically printed (the file server102, the client PC, the facsimile, or the like) only when thetransmission ends in failure. FIG. 7B shows an exemplary transmissionresult report in a case where an error occurs.

An ON button 702 is a switch for making a setting that performsautomatic report printing without exception irrespective of transmissionresults. When the ON button 702 is selected, a transmission resultreport showing a result of transmission of image data to an externalapparatus is automatically printed without exception irrespective ofwhether or not the transmission is successful. FIG. 7C shows anexemplary transmission result report output in a case where transmissionis successfully completed. An OFF button 703 is a switch for making asetting that does not perform autonomic printing of a transmissionresult report.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a report management table 800 for the MFP 101.The report management table 800 is comprised of a report name field 801,an autonomic report field 802, and a result report field 803, and isstored in the HDD 214.

In the report name field 801, names of various reports such as a countreport, a communication management report, and a transmission resultreport described above with reference to FIGS. 5A to 7C are stored. Inthe autonomic report field 802, settings as to whether the automaticreport printing function is on or off are stored. In the result reportfield 803, settings as to whether or not a report with a correspondingreport name is a result report, that is, whether or not, in a case wherean image data transmission job or the like has been executed, a reportshowing a result thereof is to be output (ON or OFF) are stored. For atransmission result report, in the result report field 803, a selectionresult “only error time”, “ON”, or “OFF” shown in FIG. 7A is stored, and“ON” on the right hand of “ON-ON” in FIG. 8 indicates this setting.

Upon receiving a manual or automatic report printing instruction, theCPU 211 of the MFP 101 refers to information in the report managementtable 800 and determines whether or not the received report printinginstruction is an instruction to perform automatic report printing andwhether or not the received report printing instruction is aninstruction to perform result report printing.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a process in which a language to be displayedon the touch panel of the operation unit 220 is determined with respectto each user. Processes in the flowchart in FIG. 9 are implemented bythe CPU 211 expanding a control program, which is stored in the HDD 214,in a work area of the RAM 213.

In step S901, the CPU 211 receives authentication information input by auser. Next, in step S902, the CPU 211 authenticates and identifies theuser who uses the MFP 101 based on the authentication information inputin the step S901. For example, when using the MFP 101, each user lets anID card reader (not shown in FIG. 1 or 2), which is provided in the MFP101, read his/her own ID card. The CPU 211 of the MFP 101 identifies auser by collating information on an ID card read by the ID card readerwith the display language management table 400. The user authenticationmethod, however, is not limited to this, but any method may be used aslong as users can be identified.

Then, in step S903, the CPU 211 obtains a language (display language)set for the user authenticated in the step S902 from the displaylanguage management table 400 (see FIG. 4). For example, when theauthenticated user is identified as a user A, Japanese is obtained, andwhen the authenticated user is identified as a user B, English isobtained. It should be noted that when the system administrator logs in,the administrator's display language set on the operation screen 300described earlier with reference to FIG. 3 is obtained.

Then, in step S904, the CPU 211 sets the language obtained in the stepS903 as a display language for information to be displayed on the touchpanel of the operation unit 220. This setting is stored in the HDD 214.After that, in step S905, the CPU 211 displays a main screen (main menu)in the language set in the step S904 on the touch panel of the operationunit 220, followed by termination of the process.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a report printing process carried out by theMFP 101 according to a first embodiment. Processes in the flowchart inFIG. 10 are implemented by the CPU 211 of the control unit 201 expandinga control program, which is stored in the HDD 214, in a work area of theRAM 213.

The process in FIG. 10 is started in response to the MFP 101 receivingan instruction to perform report printing. In step S1001, the CPU 211determines whether or not the instruction is an instruction to performautomatic report printing based on the report management table 800 (seeFIG. 8). When the instruction is an instruction to perform automaticreport printing (YES in the step S1001), that is, when the autonomicreport field 802 corresponding to a report name for which the printinginstruction has been issued is ON, the process proceeds to step S1002.On the other hand, when the instruction is not an instruction to performautomatic report printing (NO in the step S1001), that is, when theautonomic report field 802 corresponding to a report name for which theprinting instruction has been issued is OFF, the process proceeds tostep S1005.

In the step S1002, the CPU 211 determines whether or not the instructionis an instruction to perform result report printing based on the reportmanagement table 800. When the instruction is an instruction to performresult report printing (YES in the step S1002), that is, when the resultreport field 803 corresponding to a report name for which the printinginstruction has been issued is ON, the process proceeds to step S1003.On the other hand, when the instruction is not an instruction to performresult report printing (NO in the step S1002), that is, when the resultreport field 803 corresponding to a report name for which the printinginstruction has been issued is OFF, the process proceeds to step S1006.

In the step S1003, the CPU 211 refers to the report management table 800in FIG. 8 and causes the process to branch according to print settingsin the transmission result report shown in FIG. 7A. When the setting ontransmission result report printing is “ON”, the process proceeds to thestep S1005. When the setting on transmission result report printing is“only-error-time”, the process proceeds to step S1004. When the settingon transmission result report printing is “OFF”, the CPU 211 terminatesthe process without printing the transmission result report.

In the step S1004, the CPU 211 determines whether or not a transmissionerror has occurred. When the CPU 211 determines that a transmissionerror has actually occurred (YES in the step S1004), the processproceeds to the step S1005, and when no transmission error has occurred(NO in the step S1004), the CPU 211 terminates the process withoutprinting the transmission result report.

In the step S1005, the CPU 211 obtains a report print language from thedisplay languages for the operation unit 220, which were stored in theHDD 214 in the step S904 in FIG. 9. For example, as the report printlanguage, Japanese is obtained for the user A, and English is obtainedfor the user B. In the step S1006, the CPU 211 obtains theadministrator's display language set on the operation screen 300 in FIG.3 as the report print language from the HDD 214.

After the steps S1005 and S1006 are completed, the process proceeds tostep S1007, in which the CPU 211 in turn creates details of a report,for which the printing instruction has been issued, in the languagesobtained in the steps S1005 and S1006. Then, in step S1008, the CPU 211causes the printer unit 211 to print and output the report created inthe step S1007, followed by termination of the process.

It should be noted in the report management table 800 in FIG. 8, theautomatic report filed 802 is ON and the result report field 803 is ONfor the transmission result report, and the setting on printing of thetransmission result report print setting in FIG. 7A is ON. In this case,according to the flowchart of FIG. 10, a transmission result report isprinted in the display language for the operation unit 220. This takesinto consideration the fact that a transmission result report is used inmany cases by a user who has executed the transmission job.

The present invention, however, is not limited to this arrangement, buta transmission result report may be output in the administrator'sdisplay language set on the operation screen 300 in FIG. 3. In thiscase, when it is determined in the step S1003 that the transmissionresult report print setting in FIG. 7A is ON, the process should proceedto the step S1006, not to the step S1003.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in eithermanual report printing or automatic report printing, the user of the MFP101 performs desired report printing in languages desired by the userand the system administrator.

Next, a description will be given of a second embodiment of the presentinvention. In the following description of the second embodiment,detailed description of the same features as those in the firstembodiment, such as the hardware arrangement of the image processingsystem, is omitted.

In the second embodiment, even in a case where OFF (the OFF button 703)or only-error-time (the only-error-time button 701) is selected in FIG.7A, a transmission result report is printed and output in the displaylanguage for the operation unit 220 when the user explicitly selects toprint the transmission result report before executing a transmissionjob. Also, in a case where ON (the ON button 702) is selected in FIG.7A, a transmission result report is printed and output in the displaylanguage for the operation unit 220 and the administrator's displaylanguage when the user explicitly selects to print the transmissionresult report before executing a transmission job.

FIG. 11 is a view showing an exemplary operation screen displayed on thetouch panel of the operation screen 220 when the user explicitly makes asetting that prints a transmission result report. The operation screenin FIG. 11 is displayed on the touch panel by the user depressing, forexample, an option button, not shown, displayed on a menu screen, notshown, of the touch panel of the operation unit 220 when he or sheexplicitly issues an instruction to print a result report.

A transmission result report button 1101 is a button for the user toexplicitly designates printing of a transmission result report whenexecuting a transmission job (file transmission or mail transmission).When the transmission result report button 1101 is depressed (selected),a transmission result report is printed in a display language for theoperation unit 220 even in a case where OFF or only-error-time isselected in the print setting in FIG. 7A. Also, when ON is selected inFIG. 7A, a transmission result report is printed in a display languagefor the operation unit 220 as usual (when the determination result is ONin the step S1003 in FIG. 10), and the transmission result report isalso printed in an administration's display language.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are flowcharts of a report printing process carriedout by the MFP 101 according to a second embodiment. Processes in theflowchart in FIGS. 12A and 12B are implemented by the CPU 211 expandinga control program, which is stored in the HDD 214, in a work area of theRAM 213.

The process in FIGS. 12A and 12B is started in response to the MFP 101receiving an instruction to perform report printing. First, in stepS1201, the CPU 211 determines whether or not the instruction is aninstruction to perform automatic report printing based on the reportmanagement table 800 (see FIG. 8). When the instruction is aninstruction to perform automatic report printing (YES in the stepS1201), that is, when the autonomic report field 802 corresponding to areport name for which the printing instruction has been issued is ON,the process proceeds to step S1202. On the other hand, when theinstruction is not an instruction to perform automatic report printing(NO in the step S1201), that is, when the autonomic report field 802corresponding to a report name for which the printing instruction hasbeen issued is OFF, the process proceeds to step S1208.

In the step S1202, the CPU 211 determines whether or not the instructionis an instruction to perform result report printing based on the reportmanagement table 800. When the instruction is an instruction to performresult report printing (YES in the step S1202), that is, when the resultreport field 803 corresponding to a report name for which the printinginstruction has been issued is ON, the process proceeds to step S1203.On the other hand, when the instruction is not an instruction to performresult report printing (NO in the step S1202), that is, when the resultreport field 803 corresponding to a report name for which the printinginstruction has been issued is OFF, the process proceeds to step S1210.

In the step S1203, the CPU 211 determines whether or not thetransmission result report button 1101 in FIG. 11 is selected, that is,whether or not an optional transmission result report is enabled. Whenthe transmission result report button 1101 is selected (YES in the stepS1203), the process proceeds to step S1204. When the transmission resultreport button 1101 is not selected (NO in the step S1203), the processproceeds to step S1205.

In the step S1204, the CPU 211 obtains a setting on transmission resultreport printing in FIG. 7A from the report management table 800 in FIG.8 and causes the process to branch according to the obtainedinformation. When the setting in FIG. 7A is “only-error-time” or “OFF”,the process proceeds to the step S1208, and when the setting in FIG. 7Ais “ON”, the process proceeds to step S1209.

In the step S1205, the CPU 211 determines whether or not the setting inFIG. 7A is “ON”. When the setting in FIG. 7A is “ON” (YES in the stepS1205), the process proceeds to the step S1208, and when the setting inFIG. 7A is not “ON” (NO in the step S1205), the process proceeds to thestep S1206. In the step S1206, the CPU 211 determines whether or not thesetting in FIG. 7A is “OFF”. When the setting in FIG. 7A is “OFF” (YESin the step S1206), the CPU 211 terminates the process, and when thesetting in FIG. 7A is not “OFF”, that is, when the setting in FIG. 7A isconfigured at “only-error-time” (NO in the step S1206), the processproceeds to step S1207. In the step S1207, the CPU 211 determineswhether or not a transmission error has occurred. When a transmissionerror has actually occurred (YES in the step S1207), the processproceeds to the step S1208, and when no transmission error has occurred(NO in the step S1207), the CPU 211 terminates the process.

In the step S1208, the CPU 211 obtains a report print language fromdisplay languages for the operation unit 220, which were stored in theHDD 214 in the step S904 in FIG. 9. For example, as the report printlanguage, Japanese is obtained for a user A, and English is obtained fora user B. In the step S1209, as the report print language, the CPU 211obtains a display language for the operation unit 220, which was storedin the HDD 214 in the step S904 in FIG. 9, and obtains theadministrator's display language set on the operation screen 300 in FIG.3 from the HDD 214. In the step S1210, the CPU 211 obtains theadministrator's display language set on the operation screen 300 in FIG.3 from the HDD 214 as the report print language.

After the steps S1208, S1209, and S1210 are completed, the processproceeds to step S1211, in which the CPU 211 in turn creates details ofa report for which the printing instruction has been issued in thelanguages obtained in the respective steps S1208, S1209, and S1210.Then, in step S1212, the CPU 211 causes the printer unit 211 to printand output the report created in the step S1211, followed by terminationof the process.

It should be noted when the display language for the operation unit 220and the administrator's display language are obtained in the step S1209,a transmission result report written in the display language for theoperation unit 220 and a transmission result report written in theadministrator's display language are output. At this time, thetransmission result reports written in the respective languages may beprinted on different sheets, resulting in two sheets being output, orthe transmission result reports written in the respective languages maybe printed collectively on one sheet, resulting in one sheet beingoutput.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by explicitlyselecting printing of a transmission result report before executing atransmission job, the user prints the transmission result report in thedisplay language for the operation unit 220. This enhances theconvenience for the user who issues an instruction to execute atransmission job. Moreover, a transmission result report written in boththe display language for the operation unit 220 and the administrator'sdisplay language is printed, and this enhances the convenience for boththe user who issues an instruction to execute a transmission job and thesystem administrator.

It should be noted in the embodiments described above, the MFP 101carries out the processes in the flowcharts of FIGS. 9 and 10 using onememory (the RAM 213 or the HDD 214). The present invention, however, isnot limited to this, but for example, a plurality of CPUs may work incollaboration with each other using one or a plurality of memories tocarry out the processes in the flowcharts of FIGS. 9 and 10.

Other Embodiments

Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by acomputer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computerexecutable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on astorage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/orthat includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or moreof the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by thecomputer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out andexecuting the computer executable instructions from the storage mediumto perform the functions of one or more of the above-describedembodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). Thecomputer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processingunit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network ofseparate computers or separate processors to read out and execute thecomputer executable instructions. The computer executable instructionsmay be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or thestorage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or moreof a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM),a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as acompact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™),a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2013-228222, filed Nov. 1, 2013, which is hereby incorporated byreference wherein in its entirety.

1. An image processing apparatus comprising: a printing unit; a storageunit configured to store information on the image processing apparatus;a touch panel configured to receive input from a log-in user; and acontrol unit configured to control execution of automatic reportprinting in which the information is printed by said printing unit as areport when predetermined conditions are satisfied, and execution ofmanual report printing in which the information is printed by saidprinting unit as a report based on an instruction from the log-in user,wherein said control unit performs the automatic report printing in apredetermined language and performs the manual report printing in alanguage for the log-in user.
 2. An image processing apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the information stored in said storage unit includessetting information and history information on the image processingapparatus.
 3. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the touch panel displays information for the user.
 4. An imageprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predeterminedlanguage includes a language used by an administrator of the imageprocessing apparatus.
 5. An image processing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the language for the log-in user is a languageassociated with each user of the image processing apparatus.
 6. An imageprocessing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a sendingand receiving unit configured to send and receive image data to and froman external apparatus, wherein the history information is information onresults of jobs executed by said sending and receiving unit.
 7. An imageprocessing apparatus having a printing unit, comprising: a storage unitconfigured to store setting information and history information on theimage processing apparatus; a touch panel configured to receive inputfrom a user and display information for the user; a management unitconfigured to, when the setting information or the history informationis printed as a report, manage whether the report is an automatic reportto be printed when predetermined conditions stored in said storage unitare satisfied or a result report to be printed when a predetermine jobis executed; a determination unit configured to determine whether thereport is to be printed by automatic report printing or manual reportprinting performed based on an instruction from the user; and a controlunit configured to control execution of the automatic report printingand the manual report printing in accordance with the result of thedetermination made by said determination unit, wherein said storage unitadditionally stores a language used by an administrator of the imageprocessing apparatus and a display language for the touch panel, andsaid control unit performs the manual report printing in the displaylanguage and performs the automatic report printing in the displaylanguage when a report to be printed is the result report and performsthe automatic report printing in the language used by the administratorwhen a report to be printed is not the result report.
 8. An imageprocessing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a printsetting unit configured to make a setting as to whether, in a case wherein the automatic report printing, the predetermined job is atransmission job in which image data is transmitted, a transmissionresult report for the transmission job is to be printed withoutexception, not to be printed without exception, or printed only when anerror occurs in the transmission job, and store the setting in saidstorage unit, wherein in a case where an error actually occurs when thesetting that prints the transmission result report without exception orprints the transmission result report only when an error occurs in thetransmission job is made, said control unit prints the transmissionresult report in the display language, and in a case where no erroractually occurs when the setting that does not print the transmissionresult report without exception or prints the transmission result reportonly when an error occurs in the transmission job is made, said controlunit does not print the transmission result report.
 9. An imageprocessing apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising adesignation unit configured to designate execution of printing of thetransmission result report when the user of the image processingapparatus executes the transmission job, wherein in a case whereexecution of printing of the transmission result report is designated bysaid designation unit, said control unit prints the transmission resultreport in the display language when the setting that does not print thetransmission result report without exception or prints the transmissionresult report only when an error occurs in the transmission job is madeby said print setting unit, and said control unit prints thetransmission result report in both the display language and the languageused by the administrator when the setting that prints the transmissionresult report without exception is made by said print setting unit. 10.An image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said controlunit prints the transmission result report collectively on one sheetwhen printing the transmission result report in both the displaylanguage and the language used by the administrator.
 11. An imageprocessing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the display languagefor the touch panel is a language associated with each user of the imageprocessing apparatus.
 12. An image processing apparatus according toclaim 7, further comprising a sending and receiving unit configured tosend and receive image data to and from an external apparatus, whereinthe history information is information on results of jobs executed bysaid sending and receiving unit.
 13. A control method for an imageprocessing apparatus having a printing unit, a storage unit, and a touchpanel that receives input from a log-in user, comprising: a storage stepof storing, in the storage unit, information on the image processingapparatus; an automatic report printing step of printing the informationby the printing unit as a report when predetermined conditions aresatisfied; and a manual report printing step of printing the informationby the printing unit as a report based on an instruction from the log-inuser, wherein the automatic report printing is performed in apredetermined language, and the manual report printing is performed in alanguage for the log-in user. 14-16. (canceled)